


intertwined

by TolkienGirl



Series: All That Glitters Gold Rush!AU: The Full Series [151]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Hair Braiding, Unrequited Love, on Daeron's part bc he's an idiot, peripheral timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-12 23:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21484894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TolkienGirl/pseuds/TolkienGirl
Summary: I would be a lonely girl...
Relationships: Beren Erchamion/Lúthien Tinúviel, Daeron & Lúthien Tinúviel, Haleth of the Haladin & Lúthien Tinúviel
Series: All That Glitters Gold Rush!AU: The Full Series [151]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1300685
Kudos: 16





	intertwined

“Your father has had word from Haleth.” Daeron is in the doorway, knuckles poised to knock, though Luthien saw him before he made a sound.

Now, she springs forward, the stitched book of flowing Chinese characters fallen forgotten. “Haleth? She is well?”

The corners of Daeron’s mouth hitch in his soft, wry smile. “She is returning. Within a fortnight, if her pace is not slowed by her diversions. She has business to attend to, north of here—but then she shall be yours again.”

Luthien tosses her head—a little awkwardly, for her, because her hair is drenched from her bath, hanging over her blanket-wrapped shoulders in a second, heavier mantle. “Haleth isn’t anyone’s, Daeron,” she scolds, lighthearted.

He takes one step, then another, into her chamber, while Luthien eyes his hesitance curiously. He must still feel shy in his return; she must make him at home. There is another chair beside the one at her little table. Luthien gestures for him to sit down.

“You and Haleth are such dears,” she says warmly. “In very different ways! But I would be a lonely girl, without my wise and adventurous friends cheering me.”

“We would be lonely without _you_.”

Luthien laughs. She reaches behind her shoulders, seizing the damp serpent-strands of her hair. If she plaits it now, it will fall in stiff waves. Sometimes she _does_ plait it for just that reason. Boredom fosters new means of amusement, and she tires of embroidery.

“Let me,” Daeron rasps, stretching out a hand. “I could—”

_“Here, you can practice with your left,” Luthien urges, and when he still does not understand, she lifts his good hand—his _whole_ hand, for both are good—and curls it around a fistful of slippery black locks. _

_A shiver passes through his thin body._

_“No,” he whispers. “I…”_

_“You can,” Luthien promises, giddy. She _wants_ him to touch her hair. She slides off her chair to sit at his feet, resting her head against his knee. “Go on.”_

_Beren’s grip tightens, firmly but not painfully. She feels him begin to separate the strands._

_Of course he knows _how_ to twist and weave. His own hair was long when they found him, the braids tattered and coming loose, caked with clay and dried blood. She helped Isabella wash and comb it, but when Beren was well enough, he took a knife to it, shearing it off above his jaw._

_Grief and mourning, Luthien recognized at once, without ever having known them herself. Haleth’s follower Wachiwi had once done the same. _

_When she knew _him_ better, she tucked the uneven ends behind his ears, and kissed him softly on the mouth._

_“Beautiful,” Beren told her, when he mastered the tricky work of plaiting with one hand. The word sounded very sweet in his voice._

_“Your work?”_

_“You.”_

She recoils, not even thinking of how her sudden movement will surprise Daeron. “No—”

“_Ma chérie?_”

“I…” Luthien winds her hair around her fingers. “It’s no trouble. I’ll do it.”


End file.
